ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY IMOCA makes strides towards sustainability 10/05/2023 Save article IMOCA’s 2022 sustainability report details the progress it has made surrounding the use of alternative materials and collision avoidance. SHOW FULLSCREEN Source: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race IMOCA’s 2022 sustainability report details the progress it has made surrounding its use of alternative materials and collision avoidance zoom inzoom out “Over the last five years our sport has grown and flourished, but not without consideration of our environment and our impact,” said Antoine Mermod, president, IMOCA. ”Our ambition is to continue to share the adventure but not at the expense of the planet.” said Antoine Mermod, president, IMOCA. Green commitment The IMOCA Class first committed to sustainable principles in 2018, but it wasn’t until 2021 a host of rules determining IMOCA’s course for the next four years were introduced. One of the commitments was geared towards the use of alternative materials for removable parts (chart table, seats, bunks), which it said would be deducted from the boat’s measurement weight within a 100 kg limit, giving teams a slight competitive advantage. Nine teams have already snapped up the opportunity to trial this new rule. Material preferences favour flax fibre, but basalt, recycled carbon and recycled PET are also in the mix. To date, more than 300kg of parts have been made from alternative materials. The report also reveals that new boat builds after 2025 are expected to be capped with a CO2e limit. Work has begun to study the best future system for the Class in this respect. Sailmakers have got together to revise the ‘Green Sail’ Rule, tightening the criteria and introducing a ‘Green Sail’ Label. Two sailmakers, OneSails and Quantum Sails, have already joined the initiative. IMOCA has also been making headway on its Collision Prevention Project which is based on a combination of approaches. These include installing a set of sensors on the boats, but also improving communication and signalling on the race course. In 2022, a consortium of three entities was selected, composed of Pixel sur Mer, Sea.Ai and Ensta Bretagne. The objective is to provide operational and reliable collision avoidance instrumentation for the Vendée Globe 2024. Work is also underway to introduce an integrated warning function on the routing software Adrena. This will provide automatic feedback in case of collision, a more detailed observation reporting system and data collection work for scientists. This warning system will first be exercised at the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race in May 2023.         Topics BoatbuildingEnvironment & SustainabilityIMOCASustainabilityThe Ocean RaceVendée Globeyacht racing

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